Naoto Fukasawa

Japan (1956)

Japan­ese indus­trial design icon Naoto Fuka­sawa is known for work that is simul­ta­ne­ously sculp­tural and func­tional. From CD players, cell phones, and elec­tri­cal appli­ances, to furni­ture for sitting, sleep­ing and eating, Fukasawa’s work is always museum-quality. In fact, a wall-mounted CD player he designed for Muji is part of the Museum of Modern Art’s perma­nent collec­tion. Inspired by the outline and the shape of a volume or item, he looks for inspi­ra­tion in the subcon­scious thoughts that humans have about objects.

Fuka­sawa has immersed himself in the elec­tron­ics world since the begin­ning of his career, at Seiko Epson in Japan, where he designed prod­ucts such as wrist TVs and mini print­ers. He also spent time in the U.S. working with compa­nies in Silicon Valley, and was involved in the devel­op­ment of a design concept for Apple. He contin­ued to dream up tech­no­log­i­cal prod­ucts when he returned to Japan, while at the same time taking on impres­sive furni­ture collab­o­ra­tions that quickly made him a house­hold name in the indus­try. As a furni­ture designer, he has collab­o­rated on award-winning pieces for B&B Italia, Driade, Magis, Artemide, Danese, Boffi, and more. Works like the Piccola Papilio lounge for B&B Italia reveal Fukasawa’s ener­getic approach to mini­mal­ism. The chair’s envelop­ing form is utterly simplis­tic and capti­vat­ingly artful at the same time.